Emerson, Thoreau, and the Role of the Cultural Critic

by Sam McGuire Worley

Reinterprets important works of the social criticism of Emerson and Thoreau as based in defense of community.

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2000

Reviews

[Kevin Fitzpatrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presenting its readers with a multi-faceted, inclusive purview of Emerson and Thoreau's main texts, Sam McGuire Worley's "Emerson, Thoreau, and the role of the Cultural Critic" analyzes these works in light of Michael Walzer's communitarian theories, which makes the aforesaid texts exemplars of the changing role of the cultural critic in antebellum America. This contradictory point of view, that paragons of Individualism such as Emerson and Thoreau are social in their emphasis, can even be applied to such a book as Thoreau's "Walden," a book whose self-stated purpose is to achieve freedom by removing the self from society. However, in Mr. Worley's acute analysis, "Walden" is revealed to be riddled by an "aporia" central to the make up of the text. This aporia is illustrated in fact that language's social nature infuses the description of nature found in the text with human, historical, and cultural referents. Thus, society, supposedly banished from "Walden,' must be a part of it for language, the method of the book, by its very nature requires it. Such a rigorous deconstruction of a canonical text such as "Walden," worthy of a Derrida or a de Man, is par for the course for this deep, insightful book. Finally, the book ends with a discussion of John Brown, that most controversial of abolitionists; this coda serves to sum up Worley's "portrait" of Thoreau and Emerson's thought in a neat and systematic manner. Demanding, rigorous, and stimulating, this book is quite good!